Picture This: A First Introduction to Paintings

Book by Woolf, Felicity

Woolf offers a conventional introduction to art history by analyzing 24 paintings, which are arranged chronologically to illustrate periods and schools of art from 1400 to 1950. The paintings are all famous works of art, such as Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" and Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait," and are chosen to represent the main eras in art from 15th - century manuscript illumination to Jackson Pollock and abstract expressionism. A substantial text accompanies each painting, describing the artist's work and giving interesting facts about the creation of a particular painting and how the work reflects its time. The vocabulary of art and art criticism can be learned by noting the words in bold print, all of which can be found in the glossary. Although only two women painters are included, Woolf is able to work into the text some comments on women in history and their representation in art. Picture This is a solid, up-to-date , and informative introduction to major paintings of the past .
-Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
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